Getting to know the Island!

Well, it is hard to believe that we have been here in Okinawa a month already!! We have come so far in such a short time and it is always amazing to look at where God has placed us. In a months worth of time we have moved across the world, bought 2 cars, found and moved into a home, found a church home, started getting into a routine with Sam working etc., and we have been able to explore the island! We have so much more to look forward to here on the island, and we can't wait to see what is to come!
We were able to do some yard work this past weekend which was a lot of fun. We found a lawn mower and a weed wacker for a great price on a site called bookoo.com. It's kind of like a yard sale website for people who are PCSing out of the country and need to get rid of a few things. It's a great site and I'm sure we will be buying more things from it! Anyways, Sam was itching to do some yard work so we got on it!! Here is a picture of what our yard looked like before we started:
Before:                                                                         After:

The lawn was a bit over grown. The home owners didn't do a very good job of mowing the lawn before we moved in so Sam trimmed it up real good with the weed wacker. The space in the corner right behind Sam was a very over grown area with random flowers and weeds. We trimmed the tree up really well and got all of the other plants out, except for the aloe plants which we thought might come in handy during the hot summers here! Our friend Mike ended up mowing the lawn for us, and once that was done, the yard looked so much better!! The cement wall is still a bit of an eye sore, but we can't do much about that anymore!          

The same day we did yard work, we decided to do some hiking! Here are a few pictures of our little hiking trip:

 

                                                    

 We saw so many cool caves with shrine like things in them. We also went up a pretty steep slope where we had to use ropes to get up. It seemed like we were in the jungle!! Sam and Mike kept mentioning what it must have been like when we were at war with Japan b/c it is so different than what we are used to and it is like a thick jungle everywhere with different plants and animals that we aren't used to. It isn't surprising that so many men died during WWII.

Unfortuantely we are just getting into the rainy season here so it has been a bit dreary lately, but I guess the rain is the reason why it is so beautiful and green here! There have been quite a bit of thunderstorms here lately which I guess is very unusual. I always thought that thunderstorms happen all over the world, but I guess they are especially common in the Midwest, and not in the pacific?

We are looking forward to Easter Sunday and celebrating the resurection of our Lord and Savior! It is so weird being away from home and everything we are used to, but knowing that we are a part of the church universal is something that is so comforting. We will be having dinner with a couple of families from church which will be very nice for us. Have a great weekend everyone, and Happy easter!

Luke 24:25-47
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

Our Home!!

Hello Everyone!! Sorry I haven't been as on the ball with writing about what is going on and everything, but we have been busy unpacking, settling, running errands, etc, etc. We are finally all situated in our home and I thought it only proper to give you all a tour! So, here is a quick tour of our home (which is literally called Ocean Mist).

 This is a view of our home from the outside! It doesn't look very nice, but none of the homes really look that nice from the outside because they are all made of cement and they are built to withstand tough winds rather than look pretty. Our home is a little older too, and completely Japanese. There are some houses that are americanized, but we got one that was strictly Japanese!

This is our front entryway. It is customary to remove your shoes when you enter a Japanese home so all of their homes have entryways so that you can take your shoes off. The cabinet to the right is a built in shelf that was made for the purpose of shoes. I'm not sure why they do this, but while we were house hunting, we had to take our shoes off every time.

The picture to the left is our living room. We finally have our couch back from when we had it in Virginia and the lovely blue polka dot chair on the right is a government provided chair. We get what they have, and we were so lucky to get the blue polka dot one. It is very comfy and makes up for its' looks :)

The picture on the right is the tatami room. It has a special name b/c of the mats on the floor. Japanese people would sleep on these mats. Normally, there wouldn't be anything in the room other than the mats on the floor, but they said it was ok for us to put furniture in the room so we made it a study. The sliding doors along the back wall are full of storage space which is very handy.   

 The room on the left is our dining room. We got lucky with the tabel and chairs which are all government provided so we didn't have to buy a new table set right away. If you open the curtains, there is a beautiful view of the ocean and the island. It isn't so bad seeing a view like that while eating your breakfast or supper at night :)

These two pictures are both sides of the kitchen! We have a very small dish washer that we haven't used yet, and no oven except for a toaster oven that looks like a microwave which is in the picture on the right.

These two picture are of the bathroom and the laundry room. We have two bathrooms like this. They are very narrow and have interesting sinks, but they work like normal toilets in the states. The laundry machine is actually a washer and a dryer. It is very handy in terms of space, but I can't do as many loads of laundry which isn't such a bad thing ;p

Here is one half of our large master bedroom. We finally have our wonderful bed back too which has been amazing. We have been without a bed since September so we were very excited to have it back and Dane's handiwork on the bed frame is still in great shape and held up through the move. The picture below is the other half of our room. We have lots of closet space for our clothes which is awesome and we got two nice dressers from the government again as well as the other blue polka dot chair!

 

This is one of the most important rooms because anyone who is able to come visit us will be staying here!!! It is kind of a weird angle b/c I couldn't get the whole room in the pic so I had to go out on the balcony. Yes, anyone who comes and visits will have their own room with an amazing view of the pacific ocean along with access to the balcony :) Hopefully this will motivate everyone who reads this to come and visit!!

 

This last picture is of the area on the porch upstairs. It is in between both of the bedrooms upstairs and is a wonderful area for reading and hopefully bbqing in the future. It gets lots of sun and has the most beautiful view of the island along with the ocean, and the mountains.

We love our house very much and the pictures do not do it justice. It has all wood floors throughout and while all of the appliances and things are in Japanese Kanji, we are getting used to it and are finally settled in. It is amazing to see where God has taken us and how He has provided for us while we have been here just for a short time. Sam is into the swing of things now with his job, and I have been applying for jobs in hopes of a good one coming up in the near future. We ask for prayers of patience, trust, and safety as we begin to explore this amazing tropical island!